The Third Sorceress War: Part 4: Hyne's Knight
by Hyne's Knight
Summary: Orphanage Gang reunites. Battle begins.


The Garden Force was now nearing the Great Salt Lake, heading to Esthar, knowing that Laguna would be aware of where his son had gotten off to. Nida, the pilot of the Balamb Garden, noticed the huge carpet like Army of monsters. He instructed his student pilot to get Xu immediately. Xu stared blankly at the huge blanket of monsters, becoming very nervous at the world's sudden decline in the past few hours. The Gardens continued on, with Esthar as their main goal. Nida thought he saw a tower at the back of the mass, but assumed, even hoped, that he was imagining it.  
  
Laguna frantically searched through his resources, trying to find any information he could about the strange Centra Army, and Karisto. He could barely find anything, even in the massive libraries and computer data bases of Esthar. He only found a few old legends and lores, regarding the ancient Sorceress Hyne, who supposedly spawned every existing Sorceress' Powers, even today. The books told of her presence in Centra, in the ancient civilization there, and how she ruled over the land. The Books told of how she ruled over the land, taking throne within the Palace of Odin, which is now only known as the Centra Ruins. It also told of her powerful Knight, whom she blessed with her own power, to make him worthy of commanding her armies, and personally protecting her.  
  
Laguna slumped over the same few books for nearly an hour, and Ward was worried that the Centra Army drew near. Just as Laguna picked up his head, and closed the book he was reading, an officer came into his room, warning them that the Army had reached the outskirts of town, and had for some reason turned East, seeming to head for Tears Point. Laguna was surprised by this, but nonetheless deployed his ground troops to confront the Centran Army.  
  
Back in Galbadia, Andora and General Caraway were returning to Deling, to plan and execute a return strike on Esthar. Andora was very angry that Esthar attacked, but she was ecstatic over the fact that her Garden Team had emerged victorious over the Ragnarok Fleet of Esthar. She was, however, worried about the reports of the three other Gardens in the area of the battle, and their reported strike on the Galbadia Garden. After careful planning, she decided she would strike from the East side of Esthar, due to the lower defenses on that side. Since Esthar's reawakening from their silence, Galbadia had collected a lot of intelligence on their country, it's cities, armies, willdlife, etc. Andora prepared Galbadia Garden, and outfitted it with the SAMO 18-G fighting systems. These were like mechanical dragons, and most of the world had seen them before. She deployed all of the best MT technology that her country could supply, and launched a full strike on Esthar.  
  
The three Gardens finally reached Esthar, and Laguna was very pleased to see them. The entire "Orphanage Gang" was together again. Laguna led them all into his board room, and they discussed what each had seen and thought about the situation. Once again, while they were all talking, Rinoa felt a slightpulse in the back of her mind. She immediately shot up and looked out of the window, but couldn't see anything past a few buildings ahead. She went to Squall and pulled him up again, and the two went to investigate. Not to the surprise of anyone, Seifer decided he had to come, that they needed him, so he tagged along as well. The three went to the Ragnarok, and much to their surprise, the entire gang was already there. They decided they had no time to ask questions or argue, so they continued out to Tears' Point.  
  
Karisto and his army had finally reached Tears' Point, when the Ragnarok touched down in front of him, and out stepped the entire group from Esthar. Nidsa and a few others had stayed back and were heading the same direction with the Gardens, fearing that a battle may be near. Seifer automatically drew the Hyperion, and went straight off to confront Karisto. Karisto seemed to laugh silently at the disorganized group of SeeDs and former Galbadian Soldiers. Karisto put a hand into the air, and gestured up a few of his best soldiers. Just then the Gardens loomed up in front of Karisto, like they were so good at doing, and they unloaded a large strike force of SeeDs from around the globe. Karisto wasn't very impressed with the still small force, and brought forth more of his soldiers. When the two groups were nearly done with words and ready to fight, the Esthar Army arrived, in their entirety, and amassed with the SeeD to make a huge army that rivaled that of Centra. Karisto was stunned by the continuing flow of warriors that Esthar seemed to have. However, Karisto sensed a large pulse of energy to the East, and thought very fondly of it. Karisto felt he had to buy a little time, so he began to leak out bits and pieces of his origin, and that of his Army.  
  
He told of a time long, long ago when Hyne still walked the Earth, ruling over the vast, untouched wastelands of the world. "In the time of Hyne, all were frightened by her power, and that of her Knight, who was always right beside her, carrying out her dirty work and protecting her if the need arises." Karisto said in a loreish manner. "Hyne lived in a world that was empty of monsters, like these," he said as a pair of his Iguions jumped to his side. "Hyne decided she would try to tap into the enormous power that existed on the Moon that hovered over her." "This is what spawned the creation of the Lunatic Pandora, much to the pleasure of her Knight," He said. "When the Lunatic Pandora was nearly completed, Hyne sent her Knight to oversee the final stages of contruction in Centra... this would be her greatest mistake, and her final one as well," he choked out, seeming still distrought over the whole idea. Seifer was becoming somewhat impatient, and was now tapping his Gunblade on his shoulder like he usually did. Karisto noticed this, and was a little worried about this young, determined warrior. Karisto knew what could happen if a powerful, young warrior were to become overly anxious. Karisto felt the energy in the East start to near the shore, and started to continue. Rinoa was now beginning to fell it also, and began to shiver slightly. Karisto then continued," While Hyne's Knight was away, a small colony in Esthar was preparing an uprising, and Hyne was oblivious to this occurance. The Knight was very pleased with the progress of the Pandora, anddecided he was no longer needed at the site. Upon returning to Centra Palace, he found the area occupied by Esthar warriors. He fought his way through the blockade of Estharians, and found Hyne dead in her chambers. He took her body to the top of the Palace, and used his power to turn her body into an immortal statue, to guard over the Centra Continent, until her Knight could counter the Esthar attack."  
  
Just as the Galbadian Army came up behind the Esthar Army and the SeeD, Karisto boomed, "That day is today! I am Karisto, Knight of Hyne, Creator of Lunatic Pandora, and the Leader of Centra! I will take my revenge on Esthar, right here and now!" When he finished the statement, the three armies clashed. Unfortunately, the Esthar/SeeD Army was surrounded, and things were looking bleak. Squall and the rest of the gang noticed a huge pillar out in the distance behind the Centra Army. They all knew that was their only hope, so they loaded back into the Ragnarok, and took off full speed towards the pillar. 


End file.
